DRINKING WATER

getty-2093684567-water-flow Unlocking The Flow: The Transformative Value Of Meter Data Management For Water Utilities

MDM systems transform raw meter data into actionable intelligence, enhancing operational efficiency, driving proactive leak detection, improving billing accuracy, and supporting vital water conservation initiatives.

DRINKING WATER CASE STUDIES AND WHITE PAPERS

  • An Example Set: WHUD

    In 2007, White House Utility District (WHUD), a water utility serving approximately 90,000 consumers and businesses in Tennessee, faced a dilemma: how to meet a projected growing demand for water within the budget and capital constraints faced by municipal and mid-sized utilities everywhere.

  • Community-Driven Algal Monitoring: Empowering Local Stewards

    As algal blooms become more frequent and severe due to nutrient pollution and climate change, community-driven monitoring efforts are playing a vital role in safeguarding water quality and ecosystem health. Local stewards—citizens, educators, nonprofit groups, and tribal communities—are increasingly stepping up to fill critical data gaps, improve early detection, and advocate for more responsive environmental management. 

  • Featured Profiles In Brewery Wastewater Success

    Stories of real success with packaged pumping and wastewater treatment systems at breweries are explored, including for regulatory compliance and/or water reuse capabilities. Packaged pumping and treatment systems have helped hundreds of brewers meet their permits for local collection and/or direct surface discharge.

  • Standards For Testing And Certifying Cured-In-Place Pipe

    It is estimated that nearly 75,000 miles of wastewater and water pipelines have been lined with Cured-In-Place Pipe (CIPP), with nearly $3 billion spent annually on the trenchless renovation method, worldwide. Recognizing the growing use of CIPP and inability of CCTV inspection to accurately or consistently certify trenchless rehabilitation as defect-free, this paper chronicles the emergence of new guidelines to test, certify, and accept CIPP lining projects, using Focused Electrode Leak Location (FELL) inspection.

  • Earthquake Resistant Ductile Iron Pipe, Valve, And Hydrant System

    Recently, ASCE released its Infrastructure Report Card, giving the nation’s drinking water infrastructure a D: in poor to fair condition and mostly below standard. Many water utilities and communities are doing the hard but necessary thing in finding the resources to upgrade their aging water infrastructure. And, for those in earthquake prone areas, hopefully considering an earthquake resistant system.

  • The Science Of Mixing And Improving Water Quality In Water Storage Tanks

    Water storage tanks and reservoirs are a critical component of distribution systems, yet they can pose a significant challenge for water utilities as they often have a negative impact on water quality. Water quality problems can develop due to low turnover and/or inadequate mixing resulting in short-circuiting. While the benefits of maximizing tank turnover to minimize water age are generally understood, it is only recently that extensive research on mixing characteristics of storage tanks has been undertaken that has provided insight on what causes water quality problems and expertise in designing inlet/outlet pipe configurations, or mixing systems, to achieve complete mixing and maintain water quality.

  • Oxidation And AOP: The Last Lines Of Defense Against Harmful Algal Blooms

    Secondary metabolites of algae — including algal toxins and taste and odor compounds triggered by a harmful algal bloom — can find their way into source water, creating the risk that they will ultimately reach the water treatment plant to cause water-quality problems. Here is a checklist of considerations for mitigating those effects through cost-effective oxidation, or combined oxidization processes, across a variety of source water conditions.

  • Valve Health Diagnostics

    Valves are one of the most common assets in the process industry, spanning all verticals. Chemicals, refineries, and petrochemicals, however, will find improved valve health diagnostics useful for critical valves and controllers in their plants, while upstream and midstream oil and gas companies may be focused on much larger, critical valves like pipeline or subsea valves. Using Seeq, process manufacturers are able to implement a condition-based monitoring analysis to monitor valve health across an entire fleet. Engineers can utilize the historical data to accurately create a predictive maintenance forecast and preemptively detect valve failures before they occur.

  • Insta-Valve 250 Provides Targeted Control Without System Shutdown

    Hydra-Stop’s solution allowed targeted control for planned maintenance and repair. MDC is a water utility that serves a densely populated region of Connecticut that also has a significant amount of commercial and industrial facilities. Like so many water utilities within the U.S., MDC has a century-old infrastructure which requires a proactive and preventative maintenance approach.

  • UV Treatment System Fills The Bill For Water Reuse

    Small city selects full-featured and low maintenance UV treatment for its water reuse system that easily complies with demanding California Title 22 Regulations.

DRINKING WATER APPLICATION NOTES

DRINKING WATER PRODUCTS

The Hydra-Tapper provides access to the pressurized pipe without disrupting pressure or service. Obtain a tapping sleeve and a tapping valve capable of retaining the internal pressure of the water main.

The TIDALFLUX 2300 is an electromagnetic flowmeter (EMF) with a patented, capacitive level measurement for use in partially filled pipes (up to DN1600 / 64”). The meter is the ideal solution for flow measurement of municipal or industrial wastewater in pressureless transport lines. However, the EMF is also suitable for measurement of effluent brine from dredging, mining or sea/well water injection applications. Unlike open channel systems (Venturi, V-notches etc.) the inline flowmeter is a closed measuring solution without obstructions and with a much better accuracy at lower total costs of ownership.

Aqueous Vets has extensive experience selecting granular activated carbons and ion-exchange resins used to treat drinking water for both municipal and private utilities. Removal of Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), 1,2,3-Trichloroprane (TCP), Hydrogen Peroxide Quenching, Total Organic Carbon (TOC), VOC’s, Hydrocarbons, Perchlorate, Arsenic, and Hexavalent Chrome are typical.

The OPTIFLUX 1050 is a cost-effective electromagnetic flowmeter (EMF) with lightweight wafer-style design. The meter is a very economical solution for simple applications with conductive liquids (≥ 5 μS/cm) involving low solid content (up to 10%). This particularly includes applications in water, wastewater, mobile applications, agriculture or firefighting where extremely high accuracy, extensive diagnostics or a wide range of communication options are not a priority. The extra isolation of the electronic device and housing makes this EMF also suitable for use in areas with extreme humidity.

At 120Water, we take the weight off the shoulders of our clients. From expert guidance and best practices to a proven activation process, we help ensure your program achieves ongoing success.

The Series 1100HV is a restraint made for existing push-on joints on large diameter C900 PVC pipes. It is built from ASTM A536 ductile iron and has a MEGA-BOND® Restraint Coating System. 

LATEST INSIGHTS ON DRINKING WATER

DRINKING WATER VIDEOS

In the water-scarce desert Southwest, the agricultural, urban and environmental sectors are constantly competing for limited water. So how do you handle the fact that each stakeholder within those sectors wants something different in a water management strategy, for now and for the future?

The YSI Pro2030 DO/conductivity water quality meter is ideal for any field application. The instrument is rugged and extremely simple to use.

On Wednesday, November 19, 2014, at 10:15 a.m. in 2322 Rayburn House Office Building, the Subcommittee on Environment and the Economy will hold a hearing entitled “Cyanotoxins in Drinking Water."

Rather drink sewage water than LA tap water any day.

Through a partnership with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife’s (CDFW) Law Enforcement Division – DWR is able to provide funding for Luna, a seven-year-old German Shepard from the Czech Republic, who is trained to protect her handler, apprehend suspects, and detect various threats to Delta species and environments.

ABOUT DRINKING WATER

In most developed countries, drinking water is regulated to ensure that it meets drinking water quality standards. In the U.S., the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) administers these standards under the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA)

Drinking water considerations can be divided into three core areas of concern:

  1. Source water for a community’s drinking water supply
  2. Drinking water treatment of source water
  3. Distribution of treated drinking water to consumers

Drinking Water Sources

Source water access is imperative to human survival. Sources may include groundwater from aquifers, surface water from rivers and streams and seawater through a desalination process. Direct or indirect water reuse is also growing in popularity in communities with limited access to sources of traditional surface or groundwater. 

Source water scarcity is a growing concern as populations grow and move to warmer, less aqueous climates; climatic changes take place and industrial and agricultural processes compete with the public’s need for water. The scarcity of water supply and water conservation are major focuses of the American Water Works Association.

Drinking Water Treatment

Drinking Water Treatment involves the removal of pathogens and other contaminants from source water in order to make it safe for humans to consume. Treatment of public drinking water is mandated by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in the U.S. Common examples of contaminants that need to be treated and removed from water before it is considered potable are microorganisms, disinfectants, disinfection byproducts, inorganic chemicals, organic chemicals and radionuclides.

There are a variety of technologies and processes that can be used for contaminant removal and the removal of pathogens to decontaminate or treat water in a drinking water treatment plant before the clean water is pumped into the water distribution system for consumption.

The first stage in treating drinking water is often called pretreatment and involves screens to remove large debris and objects from the water supply. Aeration can also be used in the pretreatment phase. By mixing air and water, unwanted gases and minerals are removed and the water improves in color, taste and odor.

The second stage in the drinking water treatment process involves coagulation and flocculation. A coagulating agent is added to the water which causes suspended particles to stick together into clumps of material called floc. In sedimentation basins, the heavier floc separates from the water supply and sinks to form sludge, allowing the less turbid water to continue through the process.

During the filtration stage, smaller particles not removed by flocculation are removed from the treated water by running the water through a series of filters. Filter media can include sand, granulated carbon or manufactured membranes. Filtration using reverse osmosis membranes is a critical component of removing salt particles where desalination is being used to treat brackish water or seawater into drinking water.

Following filtration, the water is disinfected to kill or disable any microbes or viruses that could make the consumer sick. The most traditional disinfection method for treating drinking water uses chlorine or chloramines. However, new drinking water disinfection methods are constantly coming to market. Two disinfection methods that have been gaining traction use ozone and ultra-violet (UV) light to disinfect the water supply.

Drinking Water Distribution

Drinking water distribution involves the management of flow of the treated water to the consumer. By some estimates, up to 30% of treated water fails to reach the consumer. This water, often called non-revenue water, escapes from the distribution system through leaks in pipelines and joints, and in extreme cases through water main breaks.

A public water authority manages drinking water distribution through a network of pipes, pumps and valves and monitors that flow using flow, level and pressure measurement sensors and equipment.

Water meters and metering systems such as automatic meter reading (AMR) and advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) allows a water utility to assess a consumer’s water use and charge them for the correct amount of water they have consumed.